Bail Set At $100K For Santa Monica Woman Charged With Child Cruelty

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Tuesday, 4 Dec 2012, 12:50:00 AM

Tim Broughton

A 35-year-old Santa Monica woman was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 22 after assaulting her sister and attacking police officers that were trying to piece together an abuse incident.

At 9:03 p.m. officers of the Santa Monica Police Department went to the 1700 block of Colorado Avenue after receiving a report of a possible child abuse incident.

When the officers arrived they immediately spoke with several witnesses who had seen portions of the incident.

The officers learned the suspect and victim number one were sisters, and that victim number two was the four-year-old daughter of the female suspect.

They discovered that all three had attended a Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s home and during the course of the evening the suspect had become more and more drunk.

Her behavior had as a result become a source of embarrassment for her sister.

When they departed the residence the suspect began cursing at her sister and demanded to be driven home.

While the adult victim was driving the vehicle, the suspect, who was seated in the back of the vehicle, began to punch her in the head and face, so the victim pulled the car over and the suspect exited the vehicle with her daughter.

The adult victim did not feel comfortable with her sister taking the child in such a drunken state so she attempted to get the child back into the vehicle.

When this failed, she grabbed the child, threw her into the vehicle, and drove off. However the door was not securely latched and the child fell out of the moving vehicle suffering minor scratches.

The adult victim stopped the car and it was at that point witnesses detained her, not aware of the preceding incidents involving the suspect.

As the officers were talking with adult victim they noticed she had chunks of hair falling out of her head as well as a bite mark to her arm, evidence of the assault inflicted by the suspect.

The suspect refused to assist the officers with their inquiries and attempted to take her daughter and depart.

When the officers informed her she was not free to do that, the suspect pulled away from the police, and as the officers attempted to handcuff her, she hit one of the officers in the face causing a small laceration.

This woman was charged with child cruelty, battery on a police officer, and battery on a person. Bail was set at $100,000.

The sister of the suspect was deemed to have not committed any crime, and the Department of Children and Family Services released the child into her father’s custody.

Editor's Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled "Alert Police Blotter" (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror's coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.